Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own FMA. That's probably a good thing.

"Kitty!"

Ed ignored him.

"Kitty!"

"Yes, Al, it's a
very nice kitty."

"KITTY!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh,"
Ed grumbled to the small boy on his back. "I'll take you to go
see the damn kitty."

"Damn Kitty!"

Fuck, now Roy's
really going to kill me, Ed thought, carrying his young son into
the pet shop. He stopped in front of the kitten display, one small
ball of coal-black fuzz lying just beyond the glass. Ed then
proceeded to give every mother around mild heart attacks as kneeled
down, flipping the toddler off his shoulders and down onto his bent
knee.

"Look, Al, you see?
There's the kitty. It's a nice kitty, just like the four you
already have at home. We don't need another kitty. Papa Roy's
not too happy about the ones we have."

Ed winced. The kid was
barely over a year old, and already had the blonde completely wrapped
around his chubby finger. Ed and Roy had adopted the Ishbalan orphan
when he was only 3 months old. When they had gone to the orphanage,
they had been intending on getting an older child. The woman had
just stared at the men when they made their request that the child be
'housebroken'. Roy had chatted with the woman about the
particulars of the adoption while Ed had wandered off, finding
himself in an empty passageway. A faint cry was issuing from a door
further down the hall, and when no one appeared, Ed had opened the
door to investigate.

Alone in the room,
wailing from his cradle was a small baby with dark skin and a tuft of
dark hair. The little boy's eyes were screwed shut as he sobbed,
and when still no one came, Ed reached down and took the baby into
his arms.

The crying had stopped
immediately, and the man was thusly hooked. It had taken a lot of
convincing to get Roy to agree, and there was a great deal of extra
red tape involved in the adoption process since the child was so
young, but Alphonse Elric-Mustang soon became an irreplaceable part
of their small family.

It had started out
hard; neither man really knew what he was doing, domesticity never
having been a strong point for either. Their schedules posed a
problem, also; it had been a major reason for wanting to adopt an
older child. But with the baby came the joy of him having known no
other parents, and hiring a nanny took care of the problem of the
men's jobs.

Although finally having
reached his goal of becoming Fuehrer allowed Roy some flexibility of
schedule, it also meant many more responsibilities, along with a good
deal of paperwork that he really should sign. Ed, on the other hand,
still worked for the Military as a research Alchemist. Along with
his long-restored brother and help from colleagues from Xing, massive
strides were being made in the field of Medical Alchemy.

"Kitty!"

Ed sighed. "I'm
sorry, Al, but I'm going to have to say no. You've gotten me
into enough trouble this week with your kitties. Roy nearly killed
me when he found the couch all scratched up. Humph, I don't know
what he was so mad about, I fixed it fine, but Papa Roy's been in a
bit moody lately. So, no, Al. No kitty."

The little boy stared
at him, only really comprehending the last few words.

"Al no kitty?"

"No kitty."

The lip began to
tremble again, tears spilling from wilting eyes.

"I love you, Papa,"
he said in his baby voice, pressing his tear-streaked face against
Ed's chest.

Ed grumbled as he paid
for the cat, who was curled up safely in a carrier. He tossed the
boy back up onto his shoulders, holding him steady with his
unoccupied hand, chubby fingers holding tight to golden hair.

They made their way out
of the pet shop, blinking as they stepped into the bright sunlight.

"You sure live up to
your namesake, kid. At least Uncle Al only brought home strays, he
didn't have me spending money on them. You sure you're not
related to us? I swear there must be some Elric blood in you. Maybe
that bastard Hoenhiem had an Ishbalan lover at some point, he sure
had long enough…" Ed mused, talking mostly to himself.

"Bastard, Bastard!"

"Great, now you're
really going to get me into trouble. You want me sleeping on the
couch tonight? Huh?"

The boy just giggled,
continuing to play with his father's ponytail.

"Edward, just what is
that you're carrying?" a voice called from behind them.

"PAPA!" Al
shrieked, launching himself from his perch on Ed's shoulders and
into Roy's arms.

Roy glanced behind him,
following Ed's eye line to the store down the block. "You
didn't…"

"Papa, KITTY!"

"Edward!"

"Come on, Roy, how
could I say no?" Ed gave his best
I'm-sorry-please-forgive-me-you-can-spank-me-later-if-you-want-to
look. "Besides, isn't she cute?" He held the carrier so that
the man could peer inside. Bright green eyes stared back at him.

"Kitty!"

Roy sighed. "I'm
never forgiving your brother for giving us that first cat, I swear."

There was a honk, and
both men glanced over as Havoc pulled over to the curb.

"Alright, boys, let's
go," Roy declared, opening the door and strapping Al into his car
seat. He then sat up front with Havoc as Ed slid into the backseat.

"Home, sir?" Havoc
asked, flicking his cigarette out the open window.

"Right," he said,
pulling out into the traffic. "So, Boss, what's in the box
there?"